Sunday, May 1, 2011

Estamae McFarlane

Growing
up in Pueblo, in the 1930s, J.D. and Ted MacFarlane remembered their
mother Estamae as a strong-minded woman - a woman who never let anyone,
or anything, get in her way.

"The incident that best
describes her was a battle with a city commissioner who lived a couple
of blocks away from the 7th Avenue house where we lived," said J.D.
MacFarlane. "At the time, the avenue streets nearby were unpaved, and
the adjoining arterial street was torn up pending a long-delayed
repaving. The dust was terrific when cars, trucks, and city buses passed
by. One day she had laundered some white curtains and hung them out to
dry, when the ever-present wind came up and big clouds of dust settled
on the curtains. She gathered up the curtains, dust and all, and took
them to the commissioner's office at city hall. After checking that he
was there, she charged into his office and shook the sheets over his
desk. The repaving job was done, muy pronto."

While she
and her husband John (who was the general manager of Standard Brick
Company, in Pueblo) made a home for their family, Estamae tended to the
household, on occasion taking part-time jobs, including substitute
physical education teacher, director of the Pueblo Junior Red Cross,
and square and folk dance teacher.

"Both
of our parents were avid square dancers and active participants in the
classes and summer public park dances run by Dr. Lloyd "Pappy" Shaw,
the Superintendent of Cheyenne Mountain Schools in Colorado Springs,
who was a nationally known folk dance expert," said Ted MacFarlane. (Author's note: Shaw is also mentioned in an earlier feature on Fred Bergin)

After
World War II, Estamae took an Arthur Murray dance instructor course and
began teaching her own classes in square, folk and modern dancing. She
formed a demonstration square and folk dance team at the 7th &amp;
8th grade levels, continuing on with that demonstration team throughout
high school.

"Ted
and I were part of that team until athletics required my time
elsewhere. From that time on, she continued teaching younger and younger
children, beginning with preschool ages and rhythm training," said J.D.
MacFarlane. "She developed out of these experiences a belief that
every child can benefit from rhythm training leading to dance training,
especially children with serious mental or physical handicaps. Then she
began to teach teachers the techniques, first in Pueblo schools, both
public and parochial, then in Pueblo County. From that experience she
perceived a need for extending the techniques to schoolteachers beyond
Pueblo. She was well aware of Dr. Shaw’s recordings and consulted with
him about how to proceed."

By that time all of her
three children (including J.D. and Ted's older sister, Joanne) had left
home, either to attend college, or pursue their own adult lives. She
decided it would be the perfect time to produce her own records.

Her first box set was Toy Shop - Rhythms for Young Folk. She followed up immediately with three other sets, Let's Have Fun Dancing - Easy Couple Dancing, Lets Have Fun Dancing - Social and Variety Dancing, and Circus Fun and Ball Bouncing.

(NOTE: the copyright on the box set shows 1952, although the actual recording year can't be officially confirmed by sources)

"The
music selection included some old folk songs and tunes from square and
folk dancing," said Ted MacFarlane. "Many were oldies from a couple of
old songbooks she had, songs from the 19th century; pop songs from
Mom's childhood that her mother sang, who, being native Welsh, was
probably as musical as her Welsh heritage. Some were Civil War songs."

Diving
into the recording project, she enlisted the help of Margaret Smith, a
Pueblo musician, who performed the instrumental parts for all but one of
the songs.

"I was a trombonist from 6th grade through
college," said J.D. MacFarlane. "To Mom that meant that I must play a
trombone piece, thankfully short, for one of the records in one of the
albums. The tune I played was from my trombone basic practice book."

To
sell the set, Estamae took to the road and literally stopped at school
districts along the way, signing up interested teachers. She would
fulfill the orders from albums stockpiled in the family home.

"She stored the record inventory in a storeroom adjoining the garage, which was attached to the house," said J.D. MacFarlane.

On
Jan. 12, 1958, on her way back to Phoenix to produce her fifth box set,
she was killed in an automobile accident near Española, N.M. She was
56 years old.

As a testament to her success with the
project, album orders kept pouring in - many from school districts who
were probably unaware of the family's tragedy.

"Our
Aunt Dorothy, a retired widow living with her sister Hazel in Pueblo,
agreed to continue filling orders for the existing four albums as they
came in," said Ted MacFarlane.

She did so for 27 years, until she died at the age of 80, in 1985.

"Those
records obviously answered a need teachers had for the product," said
J.D. MacFarlane. "Mom knew what she was doing and knew what kids needed
and responded to. That makes me belatedly extremely proud of her."

Joanne
MacFarlane Gritz graduated from Centennial High in 1945, after which
she attended the University of Colorado and Columbia School of Law. She
was a lawyer for the New York Public Service Commission, the New York
Waterfront Commission, clerked for United States District Judge Lawrence
Walsh (S.D.N.Y.), and worked for the New York City law firm Davis Polk
Wardwell. She died in 1978.

J.D. MacFarlane graduated
from Centennial High in 1951, after which he attended Harvard, as well
as Stanford School of Law. He went on to serve in the Colorado House
of Representatives and State Senate (1965-1970). He later served as the
state's Attorney General (1975-1982). He is currently retired in
Denver.

Ted MacFarlane graduated from Centennial High
in 1953, after which he attended Swarthmore College and the Missouri
School of Mines and Metallurgy, obtaining his M.S. At Clemson
University. He spent his career as a materials engineer and plant
manager for the A.P. Green Co. of Mexico, MO, a major refractory
manufacturer. He is currently retired in Mexico, MO.